ACWA Power

ACWA Power

Type	Private company
Industry	Electricity
Founded	2004
Headquarters	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Key people	Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan (Chairman) Paddy Padmanathan (Chief Executive Officer and President) Thamer Al Sharhan (Managing Director)
Products	Electric power Water
Number of employees	3,000
Website	acwapower.com

ACWA Power is a company that provides electricity and desalination. Its energy portfolio includes solar (Photovoltaic PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), geothermal, wind, waste-to-energy (WtE) and clean coal.^[1][2]

Background

Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, ACWA Power maintains regional offices in Dubai, Istanbul, Cairo, Rabat, Johannesburg, Hanoi and Beijing.^[3][4] It invests in, develops, co-owns and operates a portfolio of 32 plants on three continents, with the capacity to generate 22.8GW of power and produce 2.5 million m3/day of desalinated water.^[5][6][7] ACWA Power and its subsidiary operating companies employ over 3,000 people in projects in 11 different countries.^[3]

As of 2014, 8% of ACWA Power's energy portfolio was in renewable energy. ACWA Power has expressed an intention to increase its investment in renewables:^[8] of the new bids and projects still in the financing stage announced in 2014 US$7.4 billion of US$15 billion were in renewable energy.^[2]

Structure

ACWA Power's board of directors is chaired by Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan and Paddy Padmanathan serves as its CEO and President.^[1]

History

In 2002, the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia changed the regulations so that the private sector was permitted to own and operate utilities such as water and power plants.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

The company was founded in its current form in 2008 and succeeded ACWA Power Projects, a joint venture between ACWA Holding (representing the Abunayyan Holding Company and Al-Muhaidib) and the MADA Group for Industrial and Commercial Development founded in 2004 to take advantage of these new private sector investment and operation opportunities in the Saudi Arabian market.^[7]

From 2004 to 2011, ACWA Power focused primarily on Saudi Arabia, and was awarded contracts for the Shuqaiq and Marafiq Integrated water and power plants.^{[14][15][16][17]} The company began its current phase of international expansion in 2011 with the acquisition of Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGCO) Jordan^[18][19][20] and the signature of a joint development agreement for the Kirikkale Combined Cycle Gas Turbine project in Turkey, which subsequently won backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).^[21] The company has since expanded throughout the world, although its core holdings remain the MENA region.

Notable projects and contracts

Bokpoort Independent Power Project, South Africa

• The Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project was inaugurated in March 2016, after operations started in December 2015.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]}
• In April 2016 the Bokpoort CSP plant set a new African record for the continuous, round the clock supply of electricity by generating power for a continuous period of 161 hours.^[31][32]

Noor I, II, III, Ouarzazate, Morocco

• In 2012, a consortium led by ACWA Power won a €634m euro contract to build a solar power plant near Ouarzazate, Morocco – called Noor I.^[33][34][35]
• In October 2013, a consortium led by Spain's Abengoa, Engie Energy International (formerly International Power) and ACWA Power had been pre-selected for the 200MW Noor II construction tender. The three groups were also pre-qualified for the 100MW Noor III tender.^[36]
• In 2015, ACWA Power were awarded a €1.7 billion contract for two further solar power projects, Noor II and Noor III, in Morocco.^[37][38][39]
• Noor I was inaugurated in February 2016 and will generate 160 MW of electricity. The second two phases currently under construction will generate a further 580 MW.^[40][41][42]

Nam Dinh, Vietnam

• In June 2014 a consortium including ACWA Power and Korea's Taekwang Power Holdings Company Limited signed an agreement to develop the Nam Dinh 1 IPP Project in Vietnam.^[43][44]
• In January 2016, the consortium signed a $2.2 billion investment agreement with Vietnam for the Nam Dinh 1 thermal power plant. The $2 billion coal fired power plant will generate 1,200MW upon completion.^[45]

Hassyan, UAE

• In September 2014 ACWA Power was shortlisted to build the Hassyan 1,200MW clean coal power plant as part of a $20 billion investment by the UAE Government that aims to help to diversify Dubai's energy mix by 2030.^[46][47]
• In October 2015, a consortium including ACWA Power and China's Harbin Electric were selected to build and operate the $1.8 billion plant.^{[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]}

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park, Dubai

• In January 2015 a consortium of ACWA Power and Spain's TSK were selected by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as the preferred bidder to build the $327 million phase 2 project of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Solar Park in the emirate.^{[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65]}
• In March 2015, ACWA Power secured a $344 million loan to finance the project.^[66][67]
• The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a Power Purchase Agreement and a Shareholder Agreement with ACWA Power in March 2015 for the 200MW expansion.^{[68][69][70][71][72][73]}
• ACWA Power's tender for construction of the project, at a tariff of 5.98 USD cents/kWh, was the cheapest ever offered in the world.^[4][74][75]

Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project, South Africa

• In January 2015 a consortium led by ACWA Power and the USA firm SolarReserve was awarded the right to develop the $1.2 billion Redstone Project in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.^[76][77][78] It is a 100 MW concentrating solar power generation project utilizing central tower technology with 12 hours of full-load energy storage, able to deliver a stable electricity supply to more than 200,000 South African homes.^[79]
• In October 2015 financing was secured for the Redstone project when the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) signed an agreement to making a US$400mn commitment of debt financing.^[80][81]

Awards

ACWA Power won the following awards in 2014:

• The Acquisition International Fund awards: Energy Investment Firm of the Year – Saudi Arabia^[82]
• MEED quality awards: Angus Hindley Award for Project Excellence^[83]

References